Logs:Of Need, and Duty
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| RL Date: 20 July, 2006 |
| Who: Maja, R'hin |
| Type: [[Concept:{{{type}}}|{{{type}}}]] |
| When: Day {{{day}}}, Month {{{month}}}, Turn {{{turn}}} ({{{IP}}} {{{IP2}}}) |
| Your location's current time: 0:03 on day 16, month 6, Turn 58, of the Tenth Pass. It is a summer night. Leiventh senses that Vesereth offers in the strained tones of preoccupation, « Mine waits for yours, on her ledge. She says it is you and yours' choice to show-- but she waits. She is not... perfectly well. » Leiventh> Vesereth senses that Leiventh seems vaguely surprised, pondering that for a moment. « We come, » he answers, after his usual beat to consider. You fly down to land gently on Vesereth's ledge. You vault down Leiventh's side to the ground, as the dragon warbles a greeting. Maja and Vesereth's Gnarled Roots Ledge(#6912RJhs) Oak and ash define the walls of this fair ledge, the knotting, ancient trees butting up against the rough-worked stone. They're pinned there, in fact, by ironwork and careful pruning, until now the wood and rock are impossibly intertwined. Once, the wall must have been verdant with leaf and vine, but time has stolen that luxury, the cold and the wind working together until, unattended, the trees have died. Now, like bleached bones, they lean against the grey granite behind him. Their gnarled roots have nibbled away the uneven steps that lead into the weyr proper, though the remainder of the ledge is in good condition, with a nice view of the bowl. The short, steep tunnel into the interior of the weyr is rough at the start from the efforts of those once-magnificent trees, but further in even they haven't been able to move the slick stone floor. The hearth is large but covered with soot, and the heavy wooden shelves on the wall are about to fall down. Only a few tatty hangings curtain off the storage alcove on one side of the room and the low-ceilinged sleeping room. Cracks along the walls leak in the wetter seasons, but the oddly round rooms are still in good condition, though they seem awkwardly placed in relation to each other. The small amount of furniture consists of heavy wood-and-iron pieces too heavy to move out. Contents: Leiventh Maja Vesereth Obvious exits: Sky Maja is on the ledge, near the entrance to the inner weyr, Vesereth standing behind her. She leans against him, one of her hands held out to grasp on-and-off at his hide--for stability. She's staring out into the distance, unseeing and thinking. It's not that much longer after Vesereth's message that the familiar figure of the cinnamon bronze drops onto the ledge, the hook-nose immediately identifying him as Leiventh. Despite the relative lateness of the hour, it would appear that R'hin was wide awake, given the speed at which he arrives, though with the short flight he's gone for casual, wearing his loose linen shirt but not bothering with the flight jacket. "Vesereth," he greets with a twitch of lips, sliding down from the bronze's side as the dragon rumbles a greeting, then, amused: "Your rider looks troubled." Maja does in fact miss the first few seconds of Leiventh's landing--too enthralled in her own thought to notice. A slow blink and an immediate change of her attention signal her entrance back into reality. "R'hin," she states, letting go of Vesereth--and then immediately grabbing at his side again, "I am troubled. I am intensely troubled, and it is entirely your fault, so I will blame it on you." If her inebriation wasn't apparent already, the slight slur in her words gives it away. R'hin's attention has slid from the brownrider to the surroundings, intrigued, but snap back at the first slurring word, brows drawn down in surprise. "Vixen!" he says, shocked, "You're drunk." A beat, then, with keen amusement, "You're -drunk-! Oh, please. Don't tell me I turned you into a lush after one glass. Granted, it was a fine Benden wine - Markel's vintage-old Turn, so Satiet tells me, but..." he steps closer, a slight bend of knees so he can peer at her eyes, frankly bemused by this change if anything. "Not-- not drunk," Maja immediately begins, attempting to quell R'hin's excitement, "I didn't-- drink much. I bought a couple bottles, you told me to-- and I thought that I should try it," the excuse, "in order to know what I would be getting in to, if I ever needed it. I did not expect-- so quick..." She takes her hand off Vesereth's side, giving her best straight walk towards him. "Not that you helped any," she manages, stumbling briefly and then sitting down right there in the middle of the ledge. "I did?" R'hin seems briefly surprised. "I can't recall you ever doing anything I asked before; I certainly hadn't expected you to start now," he remarks, patently amused, pale eyes flickering over the woman as if assessing her anew. He's quick to help steady her - if she'll let him - an arm snaking out to grab at hers, to ease her passing to the ground. "Woah. Careful there. I think someone shouldn't be walking. Or doing much of anything, by the looks of things. You, my dear, seem to be a cheap drunk. Which is ordinarily a good thing, but in you it's--" he pauses, a beat, "--a tad disturbing." "To have something on handy, in case of a flight," Maja notes as she uses R'hin's arm instead as a lever to pull herself up. "It seemed a good idea to me at the time," she notes, then passing briefly into thought. "Satiet told me something," she begins, still holding herself standing. "Something that I'm not quite ... sure that I understand entirely. And I have been thinking about it-- and about what you said--" she flails an arm --much more exaggerated than her usual conservative movements, "before." R'hin braces himself a little, looking like he's not sure Maja should be standing at all, but he doesn't stop her - instead, as she rises, he wraps his other hand around behind her to place a steadying hand on her back. "It was a good idea," he agrees, "But ordinarily I wouldn't expect you to go out on a bender," there's still that hint of amusement, but a bit of concern seems to be creeping in. "And I was telling you to try the -other- avenue, not the wine." His tone is wry, head tipping at her latter comment, the corner of his lips curling up for a moment. "What did the lady of the spires tell you?" "You think that I am good," Maja relays, "good! As though it were true. She also went on about blemishing and staining and something about morals." Standing back (with one arm steadied on his shoulder), Maja takes a breath in preparation of a speech that she has been stewing on since she began her first drink. "There has not been a day that has gone by, R'hin, that I haven't contemplated that very thing." That very thing that she has unfortunately failed to explain very well, and it is only hope that R'hin will understand. "Not a -day-. I don't spend my time at the lake staring at the water, and you--you should know this. So I will -not- allow you to treat me as though I don't know what I am doing. Because I do." Tenseness rides throughout R'hin's body all of a sudden, and she'd be able to feel it easily through the hand on his shoulder. "She said that, did she," his voice is a little stiff, but he doesn't seem all that surprised. The faint furrowing of brow suggests that Maja's confused him a little, and he certainly isn't sure about what she's talking about. A sudden twist of lips, and he takes a step forward to match hers, hand in the small of her back guiding, like a subtle kind of dance. "What I said to Satiet--" he exhales, frustrated, resigned, "--you weren't meant to hear. But since she has passed it on - you want to know what I told her? I told her I would not be the one to destroy you. You-- you are something special. You can - you -will- be great!" his voice drops to a low whisper, tipping his head to direct the quiet words to her ear, fervent despite the decrease in volume. Maja turns her gaze quickly to the tense shoulder, then back to R'hin, though the expression on her face is one of frustration. She quiets, though, to hear him. "And you-- you who has taken it on you to plot the overthrow of the whole damn Weyr, you do not consider that great? And you, who Impressed Lei--Leiventh, you do not consider even an eensy hint," Her hand comes up to demonstrate this, "that you have potential?" Heaving a great sigh, she sags again, leaning more on R'hin, staring at the ground. "You couldn't destroy me..." The tenseness bears out into its true source: anger. R'hin's jaw clenches briefly, ire visible in the sharpness of gaze and the acerbic words that follow: "I know well who and what I am, and what I never will be. Do not use Leiventh against me as if he is evidence!" Intensity never dims, but volume grows throughout a low growl: "I should never have impressed at all." His eyes cut away, staring towards Leiventh, troubled, angry. Whatever he shares with his dragon eases the anger, marginally, voice resigned: "I could. Very easily. I will not do that," he repeats, forcefully. "You will be above reproach. You are the one born to lead, not me. You will be a hero, Maja. That I know." Leiventh> To you, Leiventh's gentle bassy thrum is in your head all of a sudden. He disagrees with you, but then he always has - and it has never affected the depths of feeling he has for you: love, admiration, pride. Maja can't possibly lean on the brozerider with him quite so angry, and forces herself upright again, taking her hand off his shoulder. She teeters slightly, but maintains balance. She stares through him during his rant. "You tell me that you know yourself best, and I'm telling you-- I know myself. And I know that for two turns and-- some time-- I have thought about.. things. Things, R'hin." Important things. "About-- you and me... and, and I have analyzed..." She fades away, her train of thought broken. "A hero?" The faint, knowing smile that graces R'hin's lips suggests he suspects what she's talking about, and he's quick to divert it, too: "A hero," he echoes, softer. There's an odd kind of possessiveness in him all of a sudden, in the way that his gaze moves across Maja's face, settling on her eyes, and the way he automatically steps in again to steady her as she teeters, hand sliding over her arm. "Pern needs its heroes. Those that can be held up, and pointed to, as a symbol for the future. Now, more than ever, we need them. You will be one," he declares, as if to simply say it will make it so, his own strength of belief to great to think otherwise. Maja grabs R'hin's arm with a hand, squeezing it for balance but also for something else-- her eyes wide and unblinking. She swallows again, taking a deep breath to settle her stomach. "You believe in me, but not in yourself. And I believe in you, whether or not you think I should. I don't know what my future will be, but right now I just--" she squeezes his arm again. "I need someone to hold me up." The hope on her face drops away at another alcohol-induced mood swing, "and you would rather not." "No," R'hin counters, softly, "I know myself all too well. Maja," he breathes, smile touching his lips as the rough pads of fingers brush against her cheek. "My dear vixen. You do not build something with rotted wood and expect it to stand. I will bring you down. -I- would have to live with that - for the rest of my life. I'm far too selfish to allow that." An indulgent chuckle follows, as if he is making light of the situation, but that odd kind of tenseness can still be felt in his arm. "And you, you're drunk. Lucky for you I've a sense of honor somewhere about me - not much of one, but I do. So, no. I shan't take advantage of you, and I've no doubt you'll be angry at me for a long time to come... but better that, than the alternative. Believe me." The hand on R'hin's arm begins to ball up in Maja's frustration and anger and she forcefully pushes the bronzerider away from her. "You would rather me do this hero-thing alone, and I would rather have someone there for me. Whatever you have done or did or will do..." She takes a shaky breath, pursing her lips, and comments, "I'm drunk because I could not stop drinking, because I could not stop thinking about -this-." With a common Maja-snort, she attempts to quickly turns around and stomp out, summarily falling over. Even then, though, she does not give up, attempting to stand up again and inch her way back to Vesereth. "You won't be alone. I'll be there to help you. Just-- not like that." R'hin's own frustration is visible, and he takes a step after her before he catches himself, jaw clenching again, icy words as sharp as if they were falling from Satiet's own mouth: "If you can only allow yourself to think about -us- when you're falling down drunk, do you think that speaks well? You can only reconcile yourself to me when all your inhibitions are gone. That is because you know - some part of you -knows- I will destroy you. You should trust in that." Maja, with her back to him, wouldn't see the way his eyes skirt away, as if he can't look at her anymore, shoulders straightening. He doesn't bother with parting words, simply turns and strides towards Leiventh. You jump up onto Leiventh's back, using his straps as handholds. You spring powerfully into the air. |
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